Hotel Transylvania Read online

  I will never again need to fear the shortness of hours, I will have time to learn, to study, to know, to see all that there is to see. And if there is loneliness, there is also victory. Across the world and the ages I will always seek your arms, and in time I will achieve that perception that makes you what you are. Because of you, my life is not a wasted thing, nor my death.

  In my reading of history there is war and ruin and pillage and lives snuffed out with such profligacy that my breath is stopped by the senselessness of it. One would think that all humanity had nothing better to do than feed on its own carrion. Think of all the destruction you have seen, and the endless foolishness. Whole peoples have perished for a few men's greed, or desire, or sport.

  I have thought as I read these books, how many much worse things there are in this world than vampires.

  To know your freedom. To live in the blood that is taken with love.

  Saint-Germain, Saint-Germain, I can hardly wait!

  Your Madelaine

  Forever

  Notes

  HÔTEL TRANSYLVANIA

  Built in the reign of Louis XIII, Hôtel Transylvania stands today at 9 Quai Malaquais in le Faubourg Saint-Germain. Its name was taken from Prinz Franz Leopold Ragoczy, who stayed there from 1713 to 1717, due in part to his role in the War of the Spanish Succession.

  Much of the Hôtel Transylvania's notoriety developed out of its mention in l'Abbé Prévost's novel Manon Lescaut, which was first published in 1728, and has kept up its popularity to this day largely because of the operas of Massenet and Puccini, which are based on Prévost's works (there are in fact, four operas using Manon Lescaut as a text, but only two are often performed).

  A few of the illustratious people who have lived at or owned Hôtel Transylvania are: la Duchesse de Gramont, who was there in 1724; from 1869 to 1892 la Marquise de Blocqueville lived there, making the place synonymous with all that was splendid in arts and letters; and early in its career, before it gained the name by which it is still known, Hôtel Transylvania was occupied by le Maréchal de Tallard.

  LE COMTE DE SAINT-GERMAIN

  He first appeared in Paris in May, 1743, a gentleman of tremendous wealth, great learning, engaging manners, and much mystery. He was a terrifically conspicuous figure, known to everyone, going everywhere. His passion for diamonds was remarkable even for that gaudy century, and he often claimed to be able to grow his own diamonds. On two or three occasions, he took diamonds from friends and returned them larger stones, saying that they had been made larger by his own process.

  He wore black and white almost exclusively, at a time when other men were dressing in colors that would shame a rainbow. His clothes were always of the finest quality, and were particularly neat. Everyone who knew him was impressed with his mode of dress, particularly Grimm and Frederick the Great. To complement his black-and-white clothes, he rode and drove gray horses exclusively, and had carriages of the most modern design.

  He is credited with the work Le Très Sainte Trinosophie, which he may or may not have had anything to do with, but which bore his seal (the eclipse, with upraised wings) and did contain certain ideas very like ones Saint-Germain expressed. From Casanova and Walpole there is firsthand evidence that Saint-Germain was a practicing alchemist, and apparently quite a good one. In the 1750s, while he lived in The Hague, Saint-Germain purchased an athanor, and added two rooms onto the house he had hired, where he could carry out various alchemical processes.

  Music was also a passion of Saint-Germain's, and the encounter with Rameau depicted in this novel did indeed take place sometime in the summer of 1743. Saint-Germain wrote quite a few little operas, and the one of Persephone mentioned in connection with Madelaine's fête was probably composed before 1750. Saint-Germain played the violin, harpsichord, and guitar and sang in a light, pleasant voice (his range has not been noted). He was an accomplished improviser and would occasionally adlib at the keyboard. His music was collected by the Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky.

  The description of him—a medium-short man with a deep chest, small hands and feet, dark hair, startling eyes (everyone who wrote about him mentions his eyes) and the appearance of early middle age—is more or less the same from 1743 until his supposed death in 1786, which is a long time to look forty-five. He claimed to be three thousand to four thousand years old, and said that he kept his youth by drinking the Elixir of Life.

  Whether he had such a secret or not, it is interesting to note that he was rarely if ever seen to eat or drink in public, and that he did not, under any circumstances, drink wine.

  He was an enthusiastic patron of the arts, and was particularly fond of the works of Velazquez. He did some painting himself, and although his work was competent but not remarkable, he did have a secret for blending colors of rare brilliance and luminosity, which more than one painter of his day begged him to reveal.

  A gifted linguist, he spoke at least twelve languages, including Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.

  Exactly who this man was has been the subject of much speculation from the time he appeared in Parisian society until the present. He may indeed have been the youngest son of Prinz Franz Leopold Ragoczy of Transylvania. If so, he was educated by Gian-Gastone de' Medici and was in fact about thirty when he came to Paris. Walpole, in one of his letters, lists all the stories that were circulating about Saint-Germain at that time, and they include such diverse speculations as: 1) he is a Polish aristocrat exiled from Poland for conspiring against the throne; 2) he is a Portuguese Jew; 3) he is an Italian who married well and murdered his wife; 4) he is the illegitimate son of the Pope; 5) he is a Russian boyar amusing himself at everyone's expense; 6) he is an Austrian diamond merchant spying on France.

  Probably Walpole and the French (and possibly Frederick the Great as well) used Saint-Germain as an unofficial diplomatic courier during his long stay in the European courts. He certainly had access to the very highest-ranking men of his time. After 1768 he was lodged in Chambourg so that he would be nearer to the King of France, who spent some time with Saint-Germain almost every day. Frederick the Great liked him as a musician as well as a courtier, and called him "The man who does not die."

  His ambidexterity is well-documented, and his skill of writing two copies of the same thing at once was a trick he enjoyed doing. What is unusual, even among the very ambidextrous, is that Saint-Germain's signature was the same by either hand. This fact is useful when the question of his death arises, because there are two documents bearing his authenticated signature, dated 1791 and 1793, five and seven years after his supposed death. The original recipients of the letters at the time did not doubt the authenticity of the letters, and there are at least three people who had known him many years who claimed to have seen him and spoken with him in 1793, 1796, and 1802.

  Whoever he was, he succeeded in bewildering everyone for quite a long time, and the mystery, even today, is not solved.

  VAMPIRES

  In deciding which of the general characteristics of vampires would be useful for this novel, I read a great many of the available books on the subject, ranging from scholarly studies to credulous reports. I made a chart of beliefs about vampires and whatever was true for 80% of the cultures, I accepted as true and put them into this novel. My conclusions are as follows: whatever it is that a vampire finds necessary in blood, nourishment is not the main purpose. Since vampires do not digest or eliminate the way living people do, blood, being drunk, must serve some other function. Apparently this is not circulatory, either, for it would seem that much of the function of the circulatory system is taken over by the lymphatic system, which would in part account for the increased sensitivity to sunlight (although fiction's two Grand Old Vampires, Dracula and Ruthven, run around in the sunlight without apparent harm). So blood provides food in only a very limited sense, and as long as that blood is mammalian, it provides what little sustenance the vampire requires.

  The psychic element of vampirism is another matter. What most vampires se
em to seek (at least the fictional variety) is not blood, but life ("For the blood is the life, Mr. Harker," says Dracula). It is the intimacy that makes the blood important, and the physical contact that the vampire truly seeks. In extension of this psychic element, vampires apparently are psychokinetic, for they are credited with the ability to influence human, animal and weather behavior.

  There has been a tremendous amount written about the underlying sexuality of vampirism, and of course, most vampiric attacks occur at night, in bed, and leave one exhausted. Now — meaning in the last 500 years — in most cultures it is agreed that vampires are not capable of genital sexual contact, but that they express their desires through their biting, which will send any Freudian capering with glee. Thus, it is not the blood itself, but the act of taking it that gives the vampire nourishment. Certainly this is consistent with one Chinese vampire that does not take blood from the neck, but spinal fluid.

  In European countries there has been a great tendency to attribute heretical and Satanic characteristics to vampires, but this is an inconsistent attitude. If vampires were truly frightened of the Cross, for example, it would be enough to bury them under one and leave it at that. So it is not the religious symbols that control vampires. Nor are they Satanic. There is no element of devil-worship in their behavior. And it is only in Christian countries that it is believed that being a sorcerer in life contributes to vampirism after death.

  Whether regarded with horror or curiosity, vampires and the lore that surrounds them have exercised a powerful fascination on humanity for a long, long time, and it is obvious that there is something we find both compelling and repulsive about an undead being who attacks/seduces the living. Much of this stems from a generally ambivalent attitude about immortality, and a certain preoccupation with fears about death.

  Varney, Dracula, Lord Ruthven, and their varied children (this Saint-Germain is certainly one of them) have held a very special place in macabre literature. If they did not speak to some hidden part of ourselves, they would not be there.

  About the Author

  Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is the author of dozens of fantasy, horror, and young adult novels, including the 25 books of the Saint-Germain series. A frequent speaker at library, literary, and SF/fantasy conventions, she has been nominated for the Edgar Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award; she is the recipient of the Grand Master award from the World Horror Convention, is the firsts woman to be made a Living Legend by the International Horror Guild, and was awarded a Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  PART ONE

  Letter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  PART TWO

  Letter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  PART THREE

  Letter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Notes

  About the Author

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  PART ONE

  Letter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  PART TWO

  Letter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  PART THREE

  Letter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Notes

  About the Author